Colorado's Andrew Romanoff weighs House bid

Former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who helped lead a Democratic resurgence in the state before mounting an unsuccessful 2010 Senate campaign, is considering a run for Congress in 2014.

Romanoff told POLITICO that he may challenge GOP Rep. Mike Coffman in the upcoming midterm elections. Coffman’s district grew more competitive after the last round of redistricting, and the Republican won reelection with less than 49 percent of the vote in 2012.

National Democrats are enthusiastic about the prospect of a Romanoff 2014 campaign. Democratic polling early in the 2012 cycle — in December of 2011 — showed that Romanoff would have been the strongest possible challenger to Coffman that year, according to a source. One senior party strategist praised Romanoff as a potential war-horse nominee against a key Republican opponent.

“Congressman Coffman’s narrow 2012 win makes him a ripe target in 2014 and an Andrew Romanoff candidacy means Democrats have a strong, top-tier recruit with experience fundraising and a track record fighting on issues important to middle-class voters in suburban Colorado,” the strategist said.

A decade ago, Romanoff was among the Democrats who led Colorado Democrats back to power after a thrashing in the 2002 state elections. He won former President Bill Clinton’s endorsement in the 2010 Democratic Senate primary but ultimately fell short against appointed Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet.

Romanoff sold his house and put in several hundred thousand dollars to fund his campaign against Bennet, who bested him by 8 percentage points.

The national battlefield for House races is relatively small at the outset of the 2014 cycle, making it essential for Democrats to field strong challengers against Republicans in tossup districts.

The National Republican Congressional Committee responded to the possibility of a Romanoff 2014 campaign by attacking the Democrat as a tax-raiser and a career politician.

“As speaker of the House, Andrew Romanoff was a key backer of the largest tax hike in Colorado history. The only thing Romanoff cares about more than raising taxes on middle class families is furthering his political career by any means necessary — just ask Sen. Michael Bennet,” NRCC communications director Andrea Bozek said in an email.

Colorado Democrats had a strong 2012, retaking control of the state General Assembly and giving the state’s electoral votes to President Barack Obama by just under 5 percentage points. Incumbent Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper and Sen. Mark Udall are up for reelection in 2014.